


Always

by ItsMeTheRunner



Category: The Runner (Go90)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:13:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7684120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsMeTheRunner/pseuds/ItsMeTheRunner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At Runner HQ in Adaptive Studios, located in San Fernando Valley, the cast and crew of The Go90 series, The Runner, are hard at work packing up their equipment the day after filming for The Runner's second season finished. Among the people helping out are Matthew Patrick (MatPat) and Kaj Larsen, the show's co-hosts. But something unexpected happens that day, an event that changes not only the show, but the the co-hosts too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The second season of The Runner, the Go90 show, co-hosted by Matthew Patrick and Kaj Larsen, just ended yesterday. The final part of the chase, was held in Los Angeles, where The Runner was caught less than an hour into the first episode. An anti-climatic end to a chase that ran across the country.

After conducing interviews with the Chase Teams and all of the different runners for the show, there was a celebration party held for all members of the cast and crew to attend. Not only to celebrate the show's successful second season, but to honor the tireless work of all the crew members that worked on the show. Among those who attended included all of the Chase Teams, the runners, and the hosts of the show. It was one heck of a night that included plenty of eating, alcohol drinking and even dancing.

**No one at Central 90 saw it coming.**

The day after The Runner wrapped up, all of the cast and crew had to move out of Adaptive Studios. Numerous amounts of camera equipment, video equipment, and even the sets themselves had to be packed into boxes and moved to a storage locker until the next season. Among those who came to help, included Kaj Larsen and Matthew Patrick. They assisted the crew in helping to pack all of equipment and place it into vans and trucks parked outside of the studio, while cracking jokes and funny quips.

**But that's the thing, you never expect it.**

One of the biggest things about The Runner that everyone in studio was buzzing about was how much interaction it created among fans. Everyone at Central 90 was talking about the various videos, memes, comments, and replies that they've received on social media. It was easy to think of The Runner as a social media event, given how quickly and easily people took to the social media crew, the people behind The Runner.

But first and foremost, The Runner, is an interactive reality game show, where people could win money by helping the participants of the show.


	2. Chapter 1

"You alright, bro? You need to take a break?" said a male voice.

Matthew Patrick, personality behind The Game Theorists and host of the Go90 show, The Runner, ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. He was sweating and panting, as he helped his co-host, Kaj Larsen, move the large screens from the studio into the moving truck located outside of the studio. He wasn't used to doing all of this heavy lifting, but he wanted to do something to help out the show that helped him achieve his dream of hosting a reality competition show, not only once, but twice.

"No, no," said Matthew in-between breaths, "I got this. By the way, how much more screens do we have to do?"

"A couple more," said Kaj, "But they shouldn't nearly be as hard as this one here."

They moved the screen across the studio and into the truck.

"Phew," said Matthew, "I'm not used to this kind of stuff."

Kaj playfully hit him on the shoulder, "Well, call this your workout for the day then. If you continue, you'll be fit in no time."

Matthew laughed. "Workout for a day? Buddy, this is more like a week's, no, a month's workout for me."

Suddenly a loud voice rang out from behind them. "So, this is where The Runner is filmed. This makes it easy then."

Matthew and Kaj turned around to see a young man standing behind them. The young man looked to be about thirty years old, about 6'2" with brown eyes, fair skin, and short black hair. Most of the young man's body was covered in black, including the lower part of his face.

The young man's eyes darted to Kaj and to Matthew before he spoke. "I know who you are, Kaj and MatPat." Then he pulled out a gun, cocked it and pointed it in Matthew and Kaj's direction. "You're now my hostages."

Matthew froze, his eyes wide, still in shock over what was happening to him. Next to him, Kaj looked over at the gunman slowly, surveying him. Kaj worked as a Navy Seal for five years, and was used to dealing with the unexpected, but no one could've expected this.

"Hands up," commanded the gunman, motioning to Matthew and Kaj.

Kaj knew that they couldn't fight back. At least not right now. There was nowhere they could run, nothing they could use or hide behind. He knew that the best thing they could do right now, so that both of them could survive was to follow this gunman's orders. Kaj put his hands up, but he saw Matthew, still frozen with fear. "Mat. Hands up," he said in a clear voice so that the gunman could hear him. "Put them up." At Kaj's words, Matthew puts his hands up in the air.

"Now turn around."

Matthew and Kaj turned around, and Kaj noticed Matthew shaking.

With the barrel of the gun pointed at their backs, the gunman issued another order. "Now march."

Matthew and Kaj walked together, side-by-side. Matthew, though he was nervous, kept quiet. He knew that if he talked, he could possibly anger the gunman further and it wouldn't bode well for either of them.

On the other hand, Kaj knew from his military training that in situations like these, the shooters try to get as many hostages as possible. And this was no exception. Kaj noticed that the shooter was marching them back towards the studio, in order to try and get more hostages. In a barely audible whisper, Kaj spoke to Matthew. "When I give you the signal, run and get help."

Matthew looked at Kaj. Kaj was going to do something, Matthew knew. But he didn't know what. His brain still hyped on adrenaline he and whispered back, "How will I know what the signal is?"

Kaj whispered, "You'll know. Trust me."

"Hey! No whispering," ordered the gunman.

Kaj looked at Matthew, with a knowing look in his eyes. It was time.

Just before they arrived at the door to the Go90 studio, using his military training, Kaj turned around towards the gunman and rushed at him, trying to get the gun in the gunman's right hand. Meanwhile, Matthew bolted away from the gunman and sprinted towards the studio security booth.

The gunman was taken by surprise at Kaj's tactics, and Kaj was able to knock away the gunman's gun. Skilled in both military training and mixed martial arts, he quickly got the gunman into a choke hold.

"Now, you might not want to move," said Kaj.

The gunman, now disarmed, stayed quiet. He looked into Kaj's blue eyes, unfazed at the scenario he found himself in. He took a deep breath before saying, nonchalantly and calmly, "You might."

Kaj's eyes opened wide and started to run. The gunman pulled at something under his shirt, a bang was heard, and an explosion occurred.

The force of the explosion flung Kaj forward into the wall of the studio. Upon impact with the wall, Kaj could hear his bones break in his arms and legs. He collapsed, as he fell, he felt his head hit the floor, and felt warm blood rushing down his face.


	3. Chapter 2

Moments later, Matthew returned with studio security. He returned to where he got away from the gunman to find a crater outside of the Central90 studio, and Kaj thrown across the lot, crumpled near a wall, bleeding.

"Kaj!" shouted Matthew.

Matthew ran towards him. As he got closer, Matthew saw the full extent of Kaj's injuries. He saw Kaj's bruised body and he river of blood flowing out of his head. Matthew lifted up Kaj's head to try and stop the bleeding and tried to talk to the man, his voice cracking. "K-Kaj. Buddy. Talk to me, p-please." Hearing no answer and seeing no movement on Kaj's face, Matthew's eyes began to tear up. He couldn't stand seeing his friend like this. "P-please. P-please talk to me." He held Kaj's body close to him and the tears began to flow.

He didn't know what had happened or how long he had been out. Feeling himself being hugged, Kaj's eyes slowly fluttered opened. As his eyes opened, he saw Matthew over him, crying. He was still sore from the explosion and was getting lightheaded because of the blood loss caused by his injuries. He couldn't speak loudly, but murmured, "Hey, I told you. I will use everything in my larcenal to defend our bromance till the end, right?"

Upon hearing these words, Matthew stifled his crying and let out a small laugh. Of course, Kaj would still try to crack a joke to lighten the mood. Matthew's eyes looked into Kaj's blue eyes. "Of course. I remember that."

Kaj tried to give Matthew a small eye smile, since he couldn't find the strength to move his facial muscles. Kaj tried to explain what happened, "I, I'm glad you're okay. I should've seen it coming. Guy had on a suicide vest. Wasn't going down quietly." With exhaustion and pain slowly settling into his body due to his injuries, Kaj breathed, "I'm tired Mat. Mind if I rest for a little bit?"

Matthew looked at Kaj with worry. He knew that if Kaj fell asleep now, there was a very real chance that he wouldn't wake up. "Not yet, buddy. The ambulance is on their way. Hold on."

Matthew noticed Kaj's breaths were becoming more rapid and that Kaj was having a hard time staying awake. It was at that point he knew, Kaj wasn't going to make it. He cradled Kaj in his arms, and tried to console him as well as himself, "You're going to be fine. The ambulance is going to fix you up, and you're going to be fine." As Matthew continued to talk, his voice got increasingly shaky and began to break, "I-I'll be here. I will be r-right here, w-waiting for y-you."

Kaj could feel Matthew cradling him. Matthew's body warming his. But he could also feel his body shutting down, his rapid breathing slowing, his brain slowing down, his eyes getting heavier and heavier. He had to say something, anything at all to try and tell Matthew he could hear him. He breathed the words, "Always. I'll be waiting for you always."

Matthew heard his words, and felt Kaj's body go limp after. Matthew's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He couldn't stifle the tears any longer. He laid down Kaj's body onto his lap and just cried on it. He had lost his co-host, his friend, his partner, twice. Kaj gave up his life to defend him.


	4. Epilogue

Two days after the incident occurred, it was revealed to Matthew and the other people at Go90 that the gunman's real goal was to demand money from the show. According to what the officer told Matthew, the gunman's suicide note expressed his frustration with not winning money on the show either through the Chaser Teams, the runner or the ACTS, though he was a frequent and loyal viewer. Having lost his job, the gunman decided to play on the show in the hopes that he would win money to pay for rent or money for food. Since he didn't win any money, his landlord kicked him out after the show aired, and having no other recourse, decided that he would get the money or die trying, by any means necessary.

A couple of days after the incident, the news of Kaj's sudden death reached social media. Social media and the internet itself, lit up with messages to Kaj, with people tweeting and bombarding his social media account with well-wishes. It continues till this day.

A week after the incident, a funeral was held for Kaj. Matthew was there, of course, dressed in a formal suit and tie.

A year after the incident, Matthew was once again tapped to host The Runner for a third season, but with a new co-host. The first day of the chase, Matthew came onto the set of the runner, dressed in khaki colors, like he did on the first Kajual Friday that they had on the runner, only this time he had a black ribbon pinned near his heart. He picked this outfit for Kaj. When he wore it, it was like Kaj was still there somehow. 

He knew that as a host, he couldn't be sad. As a host, he needed to be energetic and charismatic and not lost in his own thoughts. Matthew heard the announcement: "twenty to live." Twenty seconds till the live broadcast. Twenty seconds till he starts the show again, without Kaj. The thought shook Matthew, but he took a deep breath to compose himself. He knew exactly how he was going to start the show.

Matthew put on his best smile as he heard the camera guy announce, "three, two.." and pointed at Matthew.

"Three, Two, One! Hit it! Today is Monday, July 1st and we're chasing, The Runner!"


End file.
